“A Day Late” by Anberlin, Tuesday, March 1, 2022 [Edited Repost]

You could probably derive 2000s Christian Rock and Christian Rock adjacent bands from two sources: Linkin Park and Jimmy Eat World. Falling Up was an example of how Linkin Park influenced Christian Rock. Today's example is Jimmy Eat World, particularly their 2001 hit "The Middle." The first single released from Never Take Friendship Personal sees Anberlin 
remembering their poppier tracks from Blueprints for the Blue Market, but taking a much more mature approach to writing the lyrics. Rather than a complaint about how "Girls speak in code" and cliches that sound a bit sexist in today's world, "A Day Late" relies on storytelling about something that could have happened in the past, and really shouldn't happen now.

SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT...Never Take Friendship Personal is an album all about relationships, and it was a perfect album for high school. While certainly not as big as Fall Out Boy, I found the lyrics on Friendship to be the perfect soundtrack to drive to school and back home every day Junior and Senior year. "A Day Late" tells the story about someone from the speaker's past who admits that they had feelings for him. The speaker says thanks but no thanks because "insignificantly enough [they] both have significant others." However, the song is left ambiguous because the speaker "must confess you're so much more than I remember" and "Only time will tell" what will happen. The speaker decides to keep this person his "day late friend." I'm not sure how his "insignificant significant other" would feel about this. It's a fun, tongue-in-cheek song that probably could get a lot of scrutiny from the "kissed dating goodbye," "true love waits" culture and those books sold a few shelves over in the Family Christian Bookstore. 

WE ARE WHO WE WERE WHEN. In 2014, Anberlin decided to release a final album and tour the world for a final time. On this final tour, the band booked two special venues: one in Australia to record Never Take Friendship Personal from start to finish and one in New York City to play Cities front to back. However, in New York, Anberlin surprised fans with an encore performance of Never Take Friendship Personal, which was recorded and released the next year. Additionally, Anberlin played another date in NYC which was streamed on Yahoo! for a concert series the website was doing that year. While I would have loved to be in New York City to celebrate my two favorite Anberlin albums, I was happy that I could see the band for what I thought would be the last time live on the Internet, even in South Korea. Listening back to this live recording, Stephen yells out "One more time, New York City." Hearing that was like watching the series finale of a favorite show. Even though the album isn't over yet, it feels like things are wrapping up. It's not time to say goodbye quite yet, but departure is imminent. Say goodbye to your day late friend. 



Music video:


 


Embed the video Anberlin - A Day Late [Clip] Autoplay ON OFF



 

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